COLUMBUS, Ga. - The Columbus State University men's basketball team took advantage of nearly nine scoreless, second-half minutes by Lander Thursday night in posting a 69-61 Peach Belt Conference victory over the Bearcats.

The Cougars improve to 10-7 overall and 4-4 in the PBC, while Lander drops to 7-11, 2-8.

Columbus, which trailed 33-28 at halftime, opened the second half by scoring 14 unanswered points to take a 42-33 lead with 11:46 left in the game.

Antonio Pope dunked the ball at 11:07 to give the Bearcats their first score, cutting the Cougars lead to 42-35.

CSU extended its lead to 51-39 on Chris Telesford's three pointer with 8:20 left.

Lander made a run in the final minute when it went on a 7-3 run to cut the lead to 65-59 on a pair of Darius Johnson free throws with 33 seconds remaining.

Deangelo Spruill led Lander with 16 points, while Pope added seven points and eight rebounds.

Columbus' Lamar Williams scored a game-high 18 points, while Telesford had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

The Bearcats jumped out to an early 12-5 lead in the first half on field goals by five different players. CSU tied the game at 14-14 on Bryant Thomas' three pointer at 8:07.

Lander gradually eased out to a 31-23 lead on a free throw by Pope with 2:04 left in the half.

The Bearcats connected on 24-of-57 field goals for 42.1 percent, including 5-of-15 three pointers for 33.3 percent. Lander also made 8-of-18 free throws for 42.1 percent.

CSU was 24-of-52 from the floor for 46.2 percent, including 9-of-18 from the three-point line for 50 percent. The Cougars also made 12-of-20 foul shots for 60 percent.